The National Football League, the Women’s National Basketball Association and other professional and collegiate sport organizations are having more conversations about quality mental health care for athletes.
But how can these large sport organizations that employ hundreds of people – from coaches and trainers to marketing professionals, ticket sales staff and athletic directors – ensure that they’re working together to adequately address athletes’ mental health needs?
To answer this question, Assistant Professor Lauren Beasley and the University of Florida’s Hannah R. Kloetzer conducted a conceptual study to better understand existing models of care (MOCs) and provide recommendations for how sport organizations can implement an athlete-focused MOC.
Their study, published in the Sport Social Work Journal, began with a review of eight evidence-based healthcare MOCs and details on each one’s strengths and weaknesses when applied in an athletics context.
For example, the Professional Practice Model (PPM) provides a framework for how registered nurses can collaborate to provide care. PPM’s patient-centered approach and its use of evidence-based medical practices can be beneficial for patients, but the authors noted that this MOC has some limitations.
“To operate fully within family-centered care, more consideration must be given to incorporate all types of family structures, as well as the lack of a familial support system,” Kloetzer and Beasley wrote. “Additionally, little information is given within PPM on how to coordinate care within different nursing departments. There is a broad assumption given that all nurses understand the different departments within a hospital and know each other’s contribution to the patient’s care.”
The authors took what they learned from the eight MOCs and developed three best practices for sport organizations interested in providing quality mental health care for their athletes: 1.) An interdisciplinary approach, 2.) case managers and 3.) top-down organizational training.
An Interdisciplinary Approach
The interdisciplinary approach involves having a care team with different healthcare professionals connecting with one another about an athlete’s concerns and how they’re progressing. The care team would be built around the athlete’s needs and could include a combination of athletics trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, medical doctors, licensed counselors, licensed psychologists and others.
Use of Case Managers
To make the interdisciplinary approach work seamlessly, the authors’ second recommendation comes into play: Hiring a case manager, such as a licensed social worker, to coordinate all the people involved in supporting a player’s mental health.
“Case managers are integral for sport organization’s best practices as they have the best training to not only manage the individual needs of athletes in an athletic department or organization, but to advocate within the organization and surrounding community to provide the needed care for the athlete,” they wrote. “In this way, a case manager can appropriately navigate all systems within an athlete’s life.”
Top-Down Organizational Training
It’s also important for all members of a sport organization to understand what case managers and the care team members can do and how they work together to provide athlete-centered care. Kloetzer and Beasley recommend that such training take a top-down approach – beginning with athletic directors and other top-level staff and making its way through the different levels of staff so that everyone is on the same page.
“These best practices, focalized by the inclusion of a case manager to an organization, centers athletes’ needs, involve multiple healthcare professionals and create conducive and collaborative environments for all actors and all ecological systems of an organization,” they wrote. “As a result, athlete care is holistic, prioritized and effective. We urge sport organizations to implement these best practices where appropriate to enhance the level of care for athletes and provide a conducive environment for employees.”
About the Researcher
Lauren Beasley
Department of Kinesiology and Health
Lauren Beasley is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health. Her research lies at the intersection of social work in sport, with a recent focus on the social work profession in sport, mental health programming in sport organizations and college athletes and college coaches’ physical and mental health literacy. She developed the College of Education & Human Development’s new Social Work in Sport graduate certificate, which prepares sport administration students, social work students and practitioners with increased knowledge so that they can create environments that prioritize the mental health and well-being of people in sport. She is the 2025 recipient of the college’s Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching.
Citation
Kloetzer, H.R., and Beasley, L. “Making the Case for Case Management: A Holistic Care Approach for Athletic Organizations.” Sport Social Work Journal, 2025, 7, 103-125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33043/27dc47cz3.